Salvatore Leone, 52, of Dover, was sentenced by U. S. District Court Judge Gregory M. Sleet to 1 year and one day in prison and three years probation.
Leone was also ordered to pay $784,568 in restitution to Wilmington Trust Company.
Leone pleaded guilty in, 2013, to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Leone was a project manager for and partner with the late Michael Zimmerman in several limited liability companies formed for the purpose of developing real estate in or around Dover. 2007 and early 2009, Leone and others submitted, or caused to be submitted, false draw requests to Wilmington Trust Company totaling approximately $483,568,000. In addition, the defendant misappropriated an escalated lease payment totaling $260,000, prosecutors said.
U.S. Attorney Charles Oberly stated, “The sentence handed down by the Court was justified. Leone defrauded a financial institution out of a substantial sum of money for his personal gain. Today’s sentence reflects accountability for those actions. Those who seek to enrich themselves at the expense of financial institutions and those institutions’ shareholders will be prosecuted by this office and brought to face the consequences of their unlawful actions.”
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), and the Office of Inspector General, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lesley Wolf and Robert Kravetz.
Wilmington Trust and some of its former officials have been the subject of numerous investigations over loan and financial reporting practices.
